Regulations in place in many municipalities require that the so-called "P-trap," and the under-sink hot water supply piping, be insulated so as to prevent injury from contact with hot metal surfaces. Wheelchair bound individuals are at particular risk.
The required thermal insulation may be supplied by wrapping or otherwise applying lengths of insulation (such as of foam rubber and the like) about the pipes and fixtures. Such practices are however undesirable for a number of reasons: application is often difficult and time-consuming; the applied insulating material tends to become disoriented and displaced; the finished installation is typically unaesthetic; and often the result is simply ineffectual.
The prior art suggest a wide variety of pipe covering techniques and structures. For example, Far et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,157 discloses preformed covering pieces made of foamed plastics and configured for various pipe fittings. Blundell U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,105 shows an elongated pipe-insulating structure that is axially slit along one side, and Martin U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,731 provides foamed insulating sleeves for pipe elements.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,650,180, 2,937,662, 3,153,546, 3,559,694, 4,441,743 and 4,840,201, to Walker, Green, Dunn, Volberg, Steenbergen and Botsolas, respectively, all show encased insulating structures applied to pipes and fittings; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,960,181, 4,463,780 and 4,669,509, to Baur et al., Schultz et al. and Botsolas, respectively, provide one-piece covering wrappings fabricated from flexible plastic materials; and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,177,528 and 3,719,209, to Flower et al. and Rush et al., respectively, are directed to electrically insulated coatings for pipe fittings and to extruded plastic plumbing traps.
Despite the activity in the art indicated by the foregoing, a need remains for means by which under-sink piping and fixtures can quickly, easily, and inexpensively by thermally insulated. It is accordingly a broad object of the present invention to provide such means, and it is a related object to provide a piping installation that is insulated thereby.
More specific objects of the invention are to provide a thermal insulation system and article which are adapted for ready installation upon under-sink piping and fixtures, so as to provide highly effective protection against burn injury from hot metal surfaces; and to provide a system and article having the foregoing features and advantages, which are, in addition, of relatively simple and inexpensive construction, quick and easy to apply, and neat, stable, and aesthetically pleasing when in place.